Regional network

Print

Region North

Summary

• All industries in Region North report solid growth and expect the growth to continue at approximately the same pace in the period ahead.
• Manufacturing reports solid growth. The high activity level in building and construction is still contributing substantially to growth in demand for products and services from domestically oriented manufacturing. The export industry also reports solid growth and that there is no indication of a slowdown. Manufacturing expects continued solid growth in the period ahead.
• Building and construction report solid growth. Growth is also expected to remain solid during the next six months, and private and public non-residential building is expected to constitute a larger share of assignments.
• Retail trade reports solid growth and expects growth to continue at the same pace during the next six months. Sales of building materials, cars, furniture and clothing reflect the strongest growth.
• Growth continues in the service industry as well, although growth in corporate services has slowed somewhat compared with the previous round. Maritime consultancy services, staffing services and advertising report the strongest growth.
• In this round, 58% of the contacts report that they would have some or considerable difficulty in accommodating expected or unexpected growth in demand. This is a decrease on the previous round, when 66% of the contacts responded in this manner.
• Employment has risen in manufacturing, the service industry and retail trade, but has remained unchanged in the other sectors during the period. During the next three months, all sectors are expecting growth in employment. Retail trade is expecting the strongest growth. The share of contacts reporting that the labour supply is a constraint is still highest in building and construction, followed by the service industry and manufacturing.
• The projection for annual wage growth in 2007 is 4½% - 5½%. Expectations are higher than during the same round of interviews last year, except in the service industry where expectations are at the same level.
• On the whole, the rise in selling prices has been moderate to solid during the past 12 months. The rise in prices has slowed somewhat since the previous round. 45% of our contacts expect the rise in prices to remain stable in the next 12 months, while 22% expect a higher rise in prices. The share expecting a higher rise in prices is lower than in the previous round. Building and construction, the sector with the highest rise in prices for input factors, expects the highest rise in prices.